Chapter Text
The Young Avengers, sans Peter, who was absent, were all together in a room at the YA base. Sam Wilson and Carol Danvers were congratulating them on taking down AIM.
“Congratulations, kids”, began Sam. “Thanks to you, we were able to stop AIM.”
“Well, you did good kids”, said Carol.
Suddenly, Peter came rushing in. He took a seat next to Kate.
“Sorry I’m late, guys”, he said out of breath.
“The important thing is that you’re here, Spider-Man”, said Sam.
“Hey Peter Parker, you got something for me?”, playfully asked Carol. Peter perked his head in her direction.
“What?”, asked Peter surprised.
“From the battle against Thanos”, clarified Carol. “Don’t you remember Peter Parker?”
“Yes, I do, but I thought you didn’t”, said Peter. Before Carol could say anything, Kamala interrupted her.
“You never mentioned you knew Spider-Man, Carol”, said the short girl. Carol grinned at her.
“You never asked”, said Carol smirking.
Ten minutes later, Carol and Sam had left the meeting room, and the Young Avengers were engaged in conversation.
“So, what do we work on now?”, asked Kamala.
“What about something street-level?”, proposed Cassie. “There are all types of criminals out there.”
“Well, that’s a great idea”, said Kate. “To do the things the original Avengers didn’t have the time for.”
“Other than Peter, who has any vigilante experience?”, asked Kamala. Everyone just looked at each other.
“I do”, said Cassie rising her hand. Everyone looked at her. “I do, okay? I’ve fought criminals before, kicked their asses.”
“Except for, you know, his”, said Eli irritated.
“You lost to him as well, Eli!”, shouted Cassie. Eli got up from his seat, approaching Cassie. Peter and Kate got between them.
“We need to calm down, okay?”, said Kate looking at Eli, letting it clear that he better not try anything.
“Fine”, said Eli sitting down.
“Don’t listen to him, Cassie”, said Peter. “He’s a jerk.”
“What was that, Parker?”, asked Eli, having heard that.
“I think you heard me, Eli”, said Peter. The symbiote seems to be influencing him. Eli got off his seat to approach Peter before Kate stopped him.
“Seat, now”, growled Kate. Eli reluctantly obeyed.
“So, what do any of you propose we do?”, asked Kamala.
“What about taking down a mob boss?”, asked America. She knows how this universe works and about criminals.
“Okay, deal with a mob boss”, said Kate as she wrote that down on a note, which she stuck on a board. “Now, we have several options”, she said, pointing at several pictures of known mob bosses, Kingpin included. Kate looked at his photo with hate.
“We can’t do anything against Wilson Fisk”, said Peter. “He is mayor now. Unfortunately.” He saw a photo of another mob boss. “What about Don Fortunato?”
“It’s official, we’re taking Don Fortunato down”, said Kate.
“Are we really doing this?”, asked Eli having some doubts. “Why not leave this to the police?”
“They’ll want evidence”, said Kate. “And we’re going to get it to them.”
Peter was entering the FEAST building, there were Christmas decorations around the place. There was also a photo dedicated to May.
In memory of May Parker.
(1964 – 2024)
Peter suddenly felt guilt creeping within him. He didn’t know how long he stared at her photo before he heard someone arriving behind him.
“She was quite a pillar in this community”, said someone standing next to Peter. Peter turned to face the owner of the voice, an Asian man in a black suit with white shirt and a well-done hairstyle.
“She sure was, Mr. Li”, said Peter.
“Peter, if you need to talk with someone, I’m here”, said Martin Li. “Don’t doubt, okay?”
“Sure thing, Mr. Li”, said Peter.
Black Cat was currently acquiring some stuff for her equipment. She knows someone who can get stuff, whether legal or illegal.
She was getting some electrical disks and electric parts for her whip.
“This is all?”, asked the seller.
“For now”, said Black Cat. She paid for her stuff. “Thank you, Alex.”
“You’re welcome, Cat”, said Alex.
“You know, you’re the only non-arrogant genius I’ve met so far”, said Black Cat. Alex looked at her questioningly. “Most of the geniuses I’ve heard of are all arrogant assholes.”
“I see”, said Alex. Black Cat left with her gear.
“Not only is there one, but two Spider menaces!”, said J Jonah Jameson on a screen. Ben was in a hotdog establishment, sitting nearby hearing that bombastic man. It’s like he didn’t have a life.
Ben was done eating when he decided it was time to leave. But on the way out, he bumped into someone.
“Sorry”, said the person.
“It’s okay”, said Ben helping the woman remain standing. He left as soon as she was okay.
MJ arrived outside of the building she was hired to steal from. There were several guards outside of the building. She decided to enter through the window she saw open.
MJ took her grappling-hook gun out and shot at the high beam she saw. She was quickly pulled upwards and entered through the window.
There was little illumination, which meant several places to hide. That gives her an advantage.
Some guards arrived where MJ was hiding. As soon as they separated, MJ picked the first one off, leaving him unconscious and hiding him in a dark spot behind some boxes.
MJ left that room and ended up in a big area with boxes that could be used for cover. She quickly hid when she heard some guards coming. As soon as they left, she came out of hiding. She saw some beams on the ceiling and shot her grappling-hook gut at one of them, being pulled up.
MJ walked over the beams, and she arrived at another room, full of guards. From what she saw, they weren’t armed, which made this job easier. While she was walking over the beams, something dropped into the ground, which caught the guards’ attention.
“Hey over there!”, shouted one of the guards.
“So much for stealth”, said MJ admonishing herself. She dropped to ground level and threw an electric disk at the guards, electrocuting some of them, but there were still several others. MJ took her whip out, striking the guards as they came. One of them managed to tackle her, but MJ threw a flurry of kicks at him, leaving him disoriented. MJ kicked him in the head, leaving him unconscious.
MJ fought the rest of the guards with her whip until they were all on the ground unconscious, some of them groaning in pain. She went to the room where the safety box was located. And soon found it.
“Alright, tell me your secrets”, said MJ to herself as she was cracking the safety box. She managed to get it open and pulled the documents she was supposed to steal out.
“Well, that’s that”, she said as she was leaving. A guard was trying to get to his feet, but MJ put an electric disk in his hand, which electrocuted him, leaving him unconscious.
MJ arrived at Alex’s shop to leave the documents with him. He handed her an envelope which contained her payment.
“You never disappoint, Cat”, said Alex. “I can see why Knight trusts you.”
“Sure thing”, said MJ. Alex gave her a piece of paper that had an address written on it.
“Someone wants to meet you”, said Alex. MJ just left.
Peter was swinging out into the city looking for crimes to foil. He quickly came across two men chasing a young woman carrying what looked like grocery bags.
“Hey, have your parents never teach you to treat the ladies?”, asked Peter in a playful tone, which sounded like a growl.
The men didn’t bother replying, they just went to attack Peter. However, Peter easily handled them. After a few moments, the men were on the ground, either unconscious or groaning in pain. He looked at the young woman.
She was wearing a tan-colored long coat that didn’t fully cover her legs that were exposed to the weather, her feet clad in black flats, and a red scarf was fully around her neck. Physically she was blonde and blue-eyed. And about 5’ 4” tall.
“Are you okay?”, asked Peter.
“Yes”, said the young woman. “Thank you, Spider-Man.”
“You should get out of here”, said Peter. The woman took his advice and soon left. She managed to keep her groceries.
Peter looked at the unconscious men. He soon heard the sound of sirens and decided to leave. The sound was too strong for him.
Next morning
Peter woke up on a public bench which he had no memory of getting to. He stretched his arms upward before giving out a smile that rather than friendly looked menacing.
He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, black pants and black and white converses. How did he got to that bench, Peter didn’t know, but that was the best sleep he had had in quite some time.
Peter got off that bench and walked away.
After some time he arrived at the Young Avengers base where he saw the rest of the team gathered talking with one another.
“Look who decided to grace us with his presence”, said Eli in a tight tone. Peter decided to ignore him.
“Peter is everything alright?”, asked Kamala.
“Sure Kamala, everything’s okay”, assured Peter.
“Okay”, said Kamala, though she wasn’t really convinced.
“Something weird is going on with Peter”, said Cassie.
“Really?”, asked Kate. “Like what exactly?”
“I don’t know”, said Cassie. “But there’s something different with him, something, I don’t know, sinister.”
“It must be something to do with his new suit”, suggested Kamala.
“His suit, really?”, asked Eli in disbelief.
“Ever since he got that black suit, he’s been acting differently”, added America. “It’s like it made him a different person.”
“Enough about Peter for now”, said Eli. “We need to focus on this Fortunato guy.”
“You’re right”, said Kate. “So, what do we know about him?”
“He’s the leader of the Maggia Family”, said Cassie.
“And that he’s quite influential”, added Kamala. “And he’s planning a party tonight.”
Peter went out to look for criminals to beat when someone arrived near him. He recognized the red and blue suit of his brother Ben.
“Hey, Spider-Man”, said Ben.
“Hey, Scarlet Spider”, said Peter. The two of them stood there in silence until Ben spoke again.
“So, has everything been okay with you?”, asked Ben sounding concerned.
“Yes”, said Peter sounding on edge. “I mean, why wouldn’t it be?”
“From what I’ve heard, you’ve been rough on criminals”, said Ben as calm as possible. “Rougher than usual.”
“Well, you know Ben, I’m tough on crime”, said Peter with an edgy voice.
“I get it, I really do Peter”, said Ben placatingly. “But you don’t need to overdo it.”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’m okay, and I gotta go”, said Peter before swinging away. Ben looked at Peter go before swinging in the opposite direction.
Nighttime
“Are we really doing this?”, asked Eli as he adjusted the bow tie in his tuxedo. Eli, dressed in a striking black tuxedo, could hardly believe what he was about to do. The mission was risky, and the stakes were high, but the team was resolute. They had a plan, and they were going to stick to it. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.
Kate, in her all-black suit, felt the weight of leadership on her shoulders. She adjusted her tie, trying to push away the doubts creeping into her mind. She had to stay focused; they all did. With one last look at her team, she gave a firm nod, signaling it was time to move.
“Yes Eli, we are doing this”, said Kate as she adjusted the tie on her all-black suit. Hopefully she wouldn’t run into the boss without knowing who he is. “Do you want Don Fortunato to still be free to do as he pleases with everyone else’s lives?”
“We’re no undercover cops either, Kate”, reminded Eli.
“The actual cops will want evidence”, said Cassie wearing a fancy dress. Sure, this isn’t the first time she wears a dress. At least he won’t be there to ruin this for her. Cassie, looking elegant in her fancy dress, couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and anxiety. This wasn't her first time playing dress-up for a mission, but something about tonight felt different. With Peter's whereabouts still unknown, the team had to be extra cautious.
“And where is Parker?”, asked Eli.
“I don’t know”, said Kate. She looked at Cassie and Kamala, both nodding no.
“Maybe he’ll meet us there”, assured Kamala. She was wearing her Ms. Marvel suit since she was on lookout. She didn’t trust herself on undercover work.
“And where is America?”, asked Cassie.
“She said something about training at Kamar-Taj”, said Kate. “So, are we ready?”
“Yes”, said Cassie.
“Yes”, said Kamala.
“Yes”, said Eli, though reluctantly.
“Then, let’s do this”, said Kate.
MJ arrived at the address in the note Alex gave her. It was an abandoned building in a really bad neighborhood.
Some armed goons were pointing guns at her. MJ raised her hands in surrender. The goons frisked her for guns before removing her whip.
“The boss wants to see you”, said one of the goons. MJ followed them to a room that looked dilapidated.
“Black Cat”, said a voice hidden in the shadows. “I’ve been hoping we could meet.”
MJ watched as the person hidden in the shadows stood in the light. She easily recognized the big bald man wearing a grey suit with a white button shirt holding a cane.
“Black Cat”, said the man. MJ looked at him before courtly greeting him.
“Mayor Fisk.”